Child Star
by YogaForever
Summary: AU. “Sorry, kid, that’s just the way it is,” His manager always says. “It’s like they always say, that’s show biz.” - Jump through hoops. Contracts. Amy Rose can’t stand him. Sonic . . . America’s favorite child star.


**Child Star **

_That's Show Biz For Ya _

_By: Sweet Valentine Vampire_

Hair fell over her fair forehead in wisps, shielding her lachrymose eyebrows and making her look less terrified. The tips of those muted red bangs touched eyelashes, eyelashes in charge of guarding her pale, ice-colored eyes that could only produce tears now.

"But, honestly," she was whispering in the chilled, stagnant air of the hallway that she and the sapphire-haired boy occupied. Her mouth pursed, refusing to speak and quivering with the effort of mustering courage to say what she needed to say.

Clenching the Flame of Solaris's pedestal in her perfect hands, Elise finally, profusely, shrieked into the dead air and into the shocked, searching gaze of Sonic, "I don't care if the world ends!"

What she did not expect was that Sonic then crossed his arms, in the disappointed fashion one does when reprimanding a small child. His smile was so mocking at that moment, like he was miles above her - burning her with the cold fires of his stone jade eyes.

"Hey," he chuckled, very bitter. "That makes two of us."

Of course, the next either of them heard was . . .

"CUT!"

The word had been heard several times already today, by both Sonic and Elise. Elise would've told you ninety-nine percent of the time it was Sonic's fault the director uttered the awful word.

"Oh, for the love of Christ . . ." Elise scathed once cameras were stopped. She rolled her eyes. Suddenly, her pretty little face seemed venomous, irritated and anyone could see those tears were not genuine.

Sonic only stuck out his tongue, and winked at the man who'd screamed the one C-word he was all too familiar with.

"What the crap, Sonic?" Another man cut in, a man that made Sonic's stomach lurch. The manager looked at his flippant client on the set - not knowing the turmoil just beneath the surface. "Is there a reason you ruined a perfectly good shot?

"I am going to beat him!" The director, the C-word shouter, threatened Sonic to no one in particular. "I'm going to have his head for this one!"

"Calm down," the younger man, the manager, waved a soothing hand and smiled at the director. "I'm sure he's got a reason," he, of course, wheeled on Sonic after this and growled, eyes furious and dark, "Sonic? Explain. _Now_."

"Um, why?" Said Sonic in the spoiled tones of any teenager with an attitude problem.

The manager sighed, rubbed his temple. The director growled, and squeezed the arms of his chair. Elise groaned, and rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time today.

"Isn't anyone going to take this damn thing?" She held out the pedestal, with the fake Flame of Solaris atop. "I don't have to ask, do I?" It was then that a homely assistant took it from her. "Well, it's about time. Thanks," Elise spoke in a sort of constant chide, never satisfied with those working for her.

One could correctly suspect that the assistant didn't find her thanks to be very grateful.

"My contacts are burning again, and I need a drink," complained Elise, whom acted much more like a princess than her character in the production, perhaps, dictated.

"Oh, poor baby," Sonic scathed with heavy sarcasm.

"I can't handle him anymore!" Elise nearly shrieked, pointing her accusatory finger at the blue hedgehog in question. She began to stomp away from the set, toward her private trailer ("I refuse to work on any set that doesn't provide me a state-of-the-art trailer with a comfortable bed. Not too firm, not too soft and it better be equipped with my favorite drinks, and . . ."). She ranted the whole journey, "He's such a freaking diva!"

Sonic interjected, unheard, "so the pot called the kettle black."

"Does he have any idea who I am?"

"The most annoying girl on Earth, perhaps?"

"- - Or how lucky he is to work with me?"

Sonic scoffed.

Something similar to, "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, bitch. You're lucky to work with _me_." Was likely to be exiting the blue hedgehog's mouth, but his manager pointed a demanding finger at the young man and told him sternly, "no. Don't even."

Elise left the set with a flourished slam of the studio door.

With a tired sigh, "what's wrong, Sonic?" The hedgehog turned to the new man who'd asked - one of the lighting crew? - and rose an eyebrow. The man elaborated, "well, you never answered Lex when he asked what was wrong?"

"He asked why I ruined a 'perfectly good scene', wasn't it, Lex?" Sonic turned his suspicious gaze over to his manager.

"Same difference," Lex assured the young hedgehog.

To this, the blue hedgehog sighed and someone went to turn on the lights, "it's just," he tried, with a roll of the eyes. Eyes that squinted against the sudden onslaught of light. The scene they'd been shooting for the _Sonic the Hedgehog_ movie in _XBox 360 _studios was in a dark hallway, and the now brightening of the artificial lights was a blinding contrast.

"Yow," Sonic blinked against the harsh white lights. "Can we dim the lights?" He asked, laughing slightly. "This is worse than the paparazzi," his face fell, he had not meant to mention those insane camera toting vultures.

"Get his sunglasses," Lex ordered the homely human assistant girl, with a snap of his fingers (to her distaste, naturally). The manager never saw her annoyed expression as the assistant handed off the black-framed sunglasses and part-time light dimmers to their owner.

"Thanks," Sonic whispered, voice void of emotion, but he seemed genuinely grateful.

The girl hadn't had time to respond before Lex prompted the hedgehog for info, "Sonic?"

"Right," Sonic began, shades firmly settled over his eyes. "Well, I'm just getting fed up with this movie. It's a bit of a mess, isn't it? I mean, come _on_. Really? Time travel? Omnipotent gods, and, not to mention, there's another girl with a _serious _case of RPS. . . . Plus,"

"What?" Said the director.

"Rebellious Princess Syndrome. RPS." Lex supplied.

Sonic continued, as if not hearing the private conference, "my lines, well, they completely suck - pretty much. Oh, and what's with the limitations you're all putting on me?"

"Hm?" The director hummed, upon noticing Sonic's gaze was settled upon him.

"Well," Sonic tried to explain. "That scene earlier . . . When this princess girl I'm supposedly falling in love with supposedly dies and I'm, you know, _supposedly_ all heartbroken?"

"I'm afraid I am not following to your point. What about it?"

"Well, I thought, my character would be all like, 'Oh, my God - someone I love was torn from my life and decimated before my eyes and I was the only one who could've, maybe, done something about it.' That's what I thought my character would be thinking."

"Those are logical enough ideas, I suppose."

"Christ, I know that. You don't need to tell me that."

"He knows, Sonic. Carry on," Lex interjected, trying to nip another fight in the bud.

"Okay," Sonic said agreeably enough. "So, wouldn't my character be crushed? Destroyed and utterly wrenched of all heart-like organs? Depressed beyond words."

"Again, I'm not sure I follow."

A sigh. One that clearly said, _am I alone in this, or are there others dealing with such imbeciles? _

"If your _wife_ died,"

"What does that have to do with - ?"

"Wouldn't that just blow you away? Not in a good way."

"Of course."

"You'd be destroyed without her, wouldn't you?"

"It'd be a very logical reaction. What's the_ point_?"

"The _point,_ pal," Sonic threw his hands to his sides, angry and looking it. "When Elise, the girl my character supposedly fell in love with, _died_, I put all of my self into screaming her name, you know? Like maybe, I could scream into the heavens her soul traveled to and ask her to come back. I poured tears into that, like my heart _was_ broken and when I fell to my knees, I did it with the weakness and weariness of . . ."

"Must you be so melodramatic?" Lex cut in, smiling slyly as always. He chuckled in the most condescending manner, as if Sonic was a silly little child, making Sonic's face flush. "You're going to bore the poor man," he motioned at the director, and shot Sonic warning in his dark eyes.

The blue hedgehog held himself together, refusing to tremble from the rage that was eating at his insides. He was very aware of how hot his face was when he pointed his wordless accusation of a finger at the director, glaring into him in the way the Sonic franchise's fans would relate faster to a certain ruby-streaked hedgehog.

Sonic managed to say this, "and then you," he cleared his throat. "You told me to tone it down, because this is a Children's Movie," something about the way he said those two words told on-listeners that he was quite fed up with it. "And it would scare, whatever you said, it would be bad for kids to see their hero acting like . . . What did you say? Who cares? To see their hero acting like an actual human being."

"In the figurative sense," a different assistant, a rabbit man, provided in a somewhat helpful tone.

"I say human being to refer to an emotional make-up," Sonic told him what the rest of the crew already knew.

The hedgehog turned back to the director, "so then, when I ask how I can tone it down you tell me not to cry, because only intelligent and feeling beings shed tears, and you told me not to put so much of that kind of passion into Elise's name."

"I was there, Sonic," Lex interrupted. "And those were definitely not the director's exact words." Again, Lex laughed in that humoring tone, making it obvious to the audience that the crew was that Sonic was just being comically ridiculous. Sonic's face became a deeper red and that man from the lighting crew looked pitying. A few of the other crew laughed with Lex, albeit nervously, trying to lighten the tension.

"Shut it," Sonic snapped, eyes dark and demanding. Then, he gave another bitter, mocking smile (commonplace on his face when in the same room as Lex), and he said, chucking ironically, "wanna know what I told myself to think of when I screamed Elise's name?"

Lex, trying to avert the disaster he saw in Sonic's eyes, began, still light, "Sonic, you're being completely immat - -"

"A dead hamster." Sonic stated, blunt as all else. "I thought, 'scream her name like you're mourning the loss of your hamster. Ha, let's see how they like that,' I thought. Oh, oh, 'and you didn't even like that hamster,' I told myself. 'It chewed on your favorite things, and pissed all over your homework assignments. Ha,' I thought, 'that'll show them. But, no," Sonic gave the word far more syllables than it had, rolling his eyes. "You," pointing at Lex, "and you," at the director. "Everyone! You all _loved_ the dead-hamster-Elise."

"You had better not be referring to the scream as that from now on." Lex uttered with the darkest ferocity in his eyes.

"Oh, yes I am," Sonic corrected. "And that's what I'll call it to the magazines and the interviewers, too. 'What was your favorite bit of working on that last movie, Sonic?' 'Oh, the dead-hamster-Elise-scream. Definitely that.' 'What, Sonic?' 'Oh, do let me explain . . .'"

Sonic shot his manager a 'what are you going to do about it?' sort of look over the top of his shades.

"You wouldn't dare," the director whispered, disgusted.

"Oh, yes, I assure you, I would." Sonic corrected in quite the confident, smug even, tone.

"No," came Lex's slimy voice again. "You wouldn't. Or else," and he pondered on this a moment. His eyes lit up, and he narrowed them, making them touch closer to the evil grin on his stubbled face. "Or else, I'll agree to that were-hog movie project they want you in."

His face sort of dropped, and Sonic looked much more a child than the arrogant little cuss he did moments ago.

In horror, and simultaneous disgust, Sonic croaked, "you wouldn't."

"Oh, I would. I promise you," the man named Lex, Sonic's manager, informed him. His smile had turned sleazy, weasel-ly. Which was odd, considering he was a human. "And I'll do just that the next time you step so much as an inch out of line."

There were not words to describe the mixed feelings of the earlier horror-disgust, the defiance, and the eagerness to just please his manager so as to get him off his back when Sonic narrowed his eyes, tightened his lips, nodding in response to his boss. He worked hard to make his face straight again, and when he accomplished the cool look, Lex spoke again.

"So, we understand each other?"

And again, Sonic nodded. This time, his eyes clearly reading 'you don't own me' - although they were not seen, and the sentiment was never felt, as they were hidden behind his ultra-dark shades.

"Good," Lex grinned again, sending goose bumps up Sonic's arms in all the worst kinds of ways. "That's a good boy," he nodded, sounding very pleased. So condescending. "My good boy." Sonic made a strangled sort of sound, barely audible, as he fought off the urge to correct his boss, because Sonic wanted so badly to be no one's possession.

At the same time, however, he knew his soul had been sold long ago so all he could do now was grin and bear it.

"Now, let's get back to rolling," the director addressed his crew, snapping orders and fingers. People moved about.

"Lucy!" Lex finally called the homely assistant by name. "Go find our Princess Elise and let's get this show back on the road, so to speak."

"Yes, Sir," and the assistant left in search of Elise.

His lip trembled a moment, and then Sonic just sighed. . . .

The lights dimmed again, the lighting crew working their magic. Sonic blinked rapidly, eyes adjusting. He should probably remove the sunglasses, but wasn't ready to let the world see the emotion in his eyes.

So, he let the shades remain over his life, dulling all the colors and making everything blend together in the silent darkness.

He didn't care.

He would just give another dead-hamster performance and be done with it.

Like always.

Shrugging it off, Sonic took a deep breath and slid the shades from his face. Again, he exhaled, breathed in irritation the way one does when trying to find peace of mind.

"Don't get down, kid," Lex chimed, walking up close to Sonic.

The young hedgehog did not meet Lex's eyes, and only stared at the ground. "Yes, Sir." He muttered, reluctantly. "But, I wish my days weren't so long. I'm tired of this."

"Don't worry, we'll finish this scene and call it a day. Start again tomorrow." Lex assured Sonic, patting his shoulder with a phony sense of comfort.

"God, why?" Sonic complained, shrugging off Lex.

"Because we all gotta do our part, kid. You're a superstar, your face is plastered all over everything and kids and girls eat you up. You're too popular not to put to work." Lex turned away from Sonic, smiling as condescending as always, and began walking off set.

"Sorry, kid, that's just the way it is," Lex called back without looking at Sonic. "It's like they always say,"

And while Lex finished his sentence with a flamboyant laugh, Sonic muttered the words in unison, bitter and hurt, "that's show biz."

_To Be Continued . . . _

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A/N: Hola. Thanks for reading the very first version of "Child Star" (unless you're Cooro, then I probably forced you to read it, but I'm sure you liked it, anyway). Gosh, I am just SO mean to Cooro, I force her to read all my story ideas. And she STILL wants me to write a full-length Sonadow story.

Haha, Cooro, that'll be the day.

So, yeah, THIS is actually a full-length story. Not what you just read, but the premise. What you read is a concept piece.

So, no quote this time (I usually attach a quote to my stories), because nothing but my own darned thoughts inspired it! Darn it!

Have fun.

If you read, please review!

If you review, do be sure to read the story first. ;)

Lates Mates,

Sweet Valentine Vampire


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